Contrary to popular opinion, the shutdown matters

Published: Wednesday, October 2, 2013 at 05:22 PM.

That’s a lot of people on the ol’ temporary layoff.

And there is a spillover effect. The people federal employees serve each day are left to wait for a resolution. The restaurants that serve them lunch and the gas stations that fill their cars take a hit.

On a smaller scale, North Carolinians in the tourism industry will suffer as national parks and beaches close. Travelers will be inconvenienced. Businesses located near such attractions will have a smaller profit margin.

Some on Tuesday dismissed the shutdown as inconsequential, and even applauded it. They wouldn’t be so happy if Congress truly shut things down. Imagine the pain if this were a real government shutdown: No mail, no flights, no Social Security checks.

True, the nation is drowning in its own debt. It’s well past time for serious talks about the budget and the size of federal government. Except no such debate is happening and frankly hasn’t for a long, long time. It’s unrealistic for some Republicans to shut down the government over a policy (Obamacare) that Congress passed, the Supreme Court upheld and the president campaigned on while winning re-election. A Democratic Senate and President Obama were never going to sign off on a bill that defunds or delays what the president considers his signature accomplishment.

Republicans surely knew this, meaning they threw 800,000 people out of work not to change policy but to make a political statement. That’s not leadership. It’s irresponsible.

America has budget problems, to be sure, and needs a serious debate about how to address them. Ideological differences are natural and healthy.

The first day of the federal government shutdown came and went Tuesday, and most couldn’t tell the difference.

Well, there were a few. The federal Farm Service Agency on Graham-Hopedale Road was shut down, with just an answering machine message letting those interested in service know about it. There were a few glitches in the phone system for the county Soil and Water Conservation District. But not much else cropped up to report locally.

Elsewhere the story was a little different, but no less minor in scope. The Panda Cam turned off at the National Zoo. The Statue of Liberty visitors center was closed. The country can survive a few days without the U.S. Geological Survey’s scientific work.

What shutdown?

But on a personal level it matters. We heard it from Patsy Simpson, an IRS employee in Durham who is a member of the Alamance-Burlington Board of Education. She’s like 800,000 federal workers now on furlough without pay.

That’s important.

To put it in perspective, the Charlotte Observer reported that the furlough number is roughly akin to every single North Carolina employee of Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Wal-Mart and Food Lion combined — times six.

That’s a lot of people on the ol’ temporary layoff.

And there is a spillover effect. The people federal employees serve each day are left to wait for a resolution. The restaurants that serve them lunch and the gas stations that fill their cars take a hit.

On a smaller scale, North Carolinians in the tourism industry will suffer as national parks and beaches close. Travelers will be inconvenienced. Businesses located near such attractions will have a smaller profit margin.

Some on Tuesday dismissed the shutdown as inconsequential, and even applauded it. They wouldn’t be so happy if Congress truly shut things down. Imagine the pain if this were a real government shutdown: No mail, no flights, no Social Security checks.

True, the nation is drowning in its own debt. It’s well past time for serious talks about the budget and the size of federal government. Except no such debate is happening and frankly hasn’t for a long, long time. It’s unrealistic for some Republicans to shut down the government over a policy (Obamacare) that Congress passed, the Supreme Court upheld and the president campaigned on while winning re-election. A Democratic Senate and President Obama were never going to sign off on a bill that defunds or delays what the president considers his signature accomplishment.

Republicans surely knew this, meaning they threw 800,000 people out of work not to change policy but to make a political statement. That’s not leadership. It’s irresponsible.

America has budget problems, to be sure, and needs a serious debate about how to address them. Ideological differences are natural and healthy.